Police investigate Ann Widdecombe death as MPs question security

Police believe Ann Widdecombe was attacked at about 12.30pm on Wednesday, nearly 24 hours before her body was found at her home in Haytor, on the edge of Dartmoor, at around 11.40am on Thursday. The 28-year-old white British man arrested in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on suspicion of murder remained in custody, while a 26-year-old man first detained was later released.

Devon and Cornwall Police said there is currently “nothing to suggest” the killing was politically motivated or terrorism-related, even as the force kept an open mind and urged the public not to speculate. More than 120 tips came in after a police appeal for information, and Counter Terrorism Policing North East was brought in to assist. South Yorkshire Police carried out the arrest in Rotherham, adding another force to an inquiry now stretching well beyond Devon.

The case has already moved from the police investigation to the political arena. MPs are expected to question the government in Westminster, with a Home Office statement anticipated on the wider issue of security for politicians. Reform UK figures, including Richard Tice, Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf, have also seized on the killing to argue that their politicians need better protection, turning a single death investigation into a broader test of how public office is protected.

The front pages have reflected that tension between verified fact and fast-moving narrative. Tributes have cast Widdecombe as “one of a kind Ann”, while the official police line remains narrow: the inquiry is focused on the circumstances of her death, not on the assumptions building around it.

Widdecombe had been a national political figure for nearly four decades. She was elected as a Conservative MP in 1987 and served in the Commons until 2010, later returning to frontline politics as a Brexit campaigner and then sitting in the European Parliament for the Brexit Party. Beyond Westminster, she was widely recognised for her outspoken style and for television appearances, including Strictly Come Dancing, where her 2010 debut drew 10.1 million viewers.